tadmilbourn

8 ms·

1. 31.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   Thanks Yuri. If there's one piece of advice to give, it's that. What I'm attempting to get at in this piece is a bit more tactical. The applications I reviewed all knew they should "be concise." But, they kept runni
2. 32.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   I think that's great. And, it's ok to have the same idea if you're showing that you're "making something people want" (showing growth and that you're learning and adapting with the market).
3. 33.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   There are a few links to applications on this Quora thread: http://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-some-sample-YCombinato... I'll see if I can dig up a few more. The Dropbox one is a fine example though and you'd s
4. 34.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   I've reviewed a good number of applications this go around (last day to submit is Friday!). So I put together a quick write up that's hopefully helpful to the broader community. Any other tips you'd suggest?
5. 35.▲
   Non-Obvious Tips for Your YC Application(tiempoapp.com)

   77 points by tadmilbourn 12y ago|30 comments
6. 36.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   Webflow - https://www.webflow.com - Let's you build responsive sites in a web UI without code. I'm a non-technical founder and I use it for our marketing site (works across browsers, has CSS animations). Our devs have
7. 37.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   Wrote up a quick list of common sense actions that can help make the business to contractor relationship run more smoothly. Relevant if you use any contractors (especially if you have a whole team of them). I'm interested in what the a
8. 38.▲
   How to Pay Independent Contractors(tiempoapp.com)

   2 points by tadmilbourn 12y ago|1 comments
9. 39.▲
   by tadmilbourn 12y ago

   Fantastic additions. Urgent vs. Important is a great framework.
10. 40.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Well...you did call me pretentious. And elitist. And stated I wasn't spending enough time with my family. That was a little judgmental. But I do get your points on the Valley bubble and the implicit values it places on work/life b
11. 41.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Thanks Rosser. To be clear, I didn't feel I was blaming or lamenting anything. My point with the article was to share "these are my choices and how I made them." Some favored the business, others favored the family. Each pers
12. 42.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    That's offensive to me on so many levels. I know some HTML and CSS, but no...I can't code. And I have a business degree. And...oh god...look at that haircut. Run! He might have an MBA (I don't)! Just because I'm "no
13. 43.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Susan is awesome (she's a batch mate)! And made a hugely difficult decision with her LA to SF commute. I was working on an outline for this post two weeks ago then I saw Susan's post hit and I thought two things: 1) People are ver
14. 44.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    I'd say that the other high-stress industries cause a similar dynamic. Work/Family pressure is not exclusive to startups or tech startups or however you want to label it. But, the one difference I'd call out with doing a star
15. 45.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Hehe...well, I'd tell your "friend" to build up some savings. My wife and I both had very nice jobs at Intuit for 7.5 years (she's now at a new company). That allowed us to build a nice nest egg. Instead of spending that
16. 46.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    I'm 31! You're not over the hill yet :-). In fact, our whole founding team was 30 and married. There are many different configurations for starting a company. My advice is to take whatever your situation is...and use it to your ad
17. 47.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    It's interesting that others in the thread have implied that I'm not spending enough time on my startup and will be out-hustled. My wife and I both work. So, we have our kid in daycare. 5:30-8:30 is actually 100% of the time from
18. 48.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Thanks! I experienced a similar thing the first time around. I enjoy my work. But pre-kid, I found myself spending longer days where I wasn't actually "on." Post-kid, there's far more meaning to whether you're at wo
19. 49.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    It sounds like your head is screwed on as well :-)
20. 50.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Very good points. Part of why I was able to make the "startup leap" is because my wife and I both worked at Intuit for 7.5 years. We established a good amount of savings that allows us to not have to worry so much about things lik
21. 51.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    There are others that I've written up that I'm transferring over. Some were on Medium. Experimenting with different publishing platforms to figure out how best to engage our audience. I'll wire up connections to other article
22. 52.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    You're right. Those were my choices. Fortunately, over the past few months, the servers have stayed up and my daughter hasn't had a need to go to the hospital. Those are holy shit moments. But most of life is lived in a more munda
23. 53.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    No one forced me to do a startup. No one forced me to have a kid. Those were my choices. And as a result, I'm in a situation that requires a lot of compromise. I think there are many others in this situation, but it doesn't get ta
24. 54.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    That's the struggle. And, you've called it out precisely. There will be some extremely tough choices. Hopefully it doesn't come to a choice where the business is at risk due to a family decision (or vice versa). But, you&#x27
25. 55.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    My thoughts on ways to balance the needs of a growing startup with the needs of a growing family. Would love to know what others in similar situations have tried. What's worked? What hasn't?
26. 56.▲
    Y Combinator, a Two-Year-Old, and a Pregnant Wife(tiempoapp.com)

    288 points by tadmilbourn 12y ago|147 comments
27. 57.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    There's been some backlash against Lean Startup and Minimum Viable Products as of late. The implication is that it forces you to release crappy products. In the post I outline how we apply MVP thinking to our product development proces
28. 58.▲
    How “minimum” is “viable?”(medium.com)

    2 points by tadmilbourn 12y ago|1 comments
29. 59.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    I think this is the 4th major blog that I've seen just repost Andreesen's tweet stream. But, regardless of frothy times or not, the advice is solid. Keep your burn low. Run as lean as possible until you've figured out the bus
30. 60.▲
    by tadmilbourn 12y ago

    Thanks! That's good to know. I always struggle with whether brevity or depth is most useful to the audience. Sounds like it's good to stick with depth!